Beliefs and practices of Iranian pregnant mothers regarding vitamins and minerals

The objective of this descriptive study was to examine the vitamin and mineral supplements safety beliefs and practices of Iranian pregnant women. Data were collected from 400 randomly chosen women. More than 50% of the participants believed that taking vitamins and minerals during pregnancy was safe; 87% reported taking iron during pregnancy; of which 71.7% reported their doctor as the main recommender; 21.8% reported first trimester as the most beneficial time for iron supplementation, 13.0% second trimester and 3.0% third trimester. Although an appropriate intake of vitamins and minerals can assure health in pregnancy, excess can be harmful. Educational programmes for women of childbearing age are necessary

Patients' report of statins use and side-effects in a sample of hospitalized cardiac patients in the Islamic Republic of Iran

We aimed to study the prevalence of the side-effects of statins among Iranians patients admitted to a cardiac-specialized hospital and had taken statins prior to hospitalization. Data was collected between September 2007 and March 2008 and 200 patients were enrolled. A questionnaire was completed using the patients' records and by interviewing the patients. The mean age of the participants was 61.5 [SD 12.3] years and 63% were males. The most commonly used statins was atrovastatin [99% of the patients]. In all, 63.5% of the participants reported experiencing side-effects due to statins. The reported side-effects were respiratory [4%]] and gastrointestinal effect [18.5%], headache [16.5%], rash [0.5%] and allergic reactions [5%]; 9.5% reported muscle-related side-effects such as myalgia. Although, the clinical benefits outweigh the small risk of liver failure and myopathy, clinicians should be aware of the side-effects of statins